Dealing with Depression and Anxiety

There are good ways and there are bad ways. Self-diagnosing, self-medicating and misusing prescribed medications are just a few examples of the wrong ways of dealing with depression and anxiety.

Psychotherapy, counseling and being responsible and disciplined are the right choices for treating anxiety and depression.

Do not be one of those people that self-medicates with alcohol. Alcohol is many things, but it is definitely not a cure for anything. Alcohol is the last thing you should be consuming if you are depressed or suffering from anxiety disorder.

First, alcohol is a depressant and second, it can intensify your fear and make you feel even more anxious. Therefore, if you are having alcohol problems, you must get yourself into alcohol counseling if you wish to free yourself from anxiety and depression.

Self-medicating with legal drugs is also very risky and dangerous. The golden rule is if you do not have a license to prescribe medication, then before purchasing and using any medication you need to get a prescription first. Many people intentionally commit suicide by mixing and misusing legal drugs. Many others prolong and deepen their disorders. Sometimes they do this to the point that they have to be hospitalized for weeks or longer.

When dealing with depression and anxiety, alternative methods and natural supplements can be used, but again, only under the supervision of a health professional. There are two main reasons why this is true. First, some natural supplements can be harmful when abused or misused.

Second, you can spend money and your time for some natural supplements or some other alternative methods in vain. This is because your type of anxiety and depression is not responsive to those methods or natural supplements in the first place.

A health professional knows what natural supplements you should try for your type of anxiety and depression. They also know what alternative methods would definitely not work for you due to the nature of your disorder. For example, in some cases, natural supplements that can possibly relieve a patient from his or her symptoms of anxiety and depression is a certain vitamin, but in some other cases that vitamin is the last thing that a patient needs.

The first step when dealing with depression and anxiety needs to be accepting the responsibility for your condition. Your lifestyle caused or supported your illness, therefore, it is in your power to make yourself feel better. Of course, you cannot do that on your own. This is why you need to be in counseling or psychotherapy and receive the appropriate support.

Support is essential for any recovery especially for illnesses such as anxiety and depression. The best support you can receive is from a health professional such a psychiatrist or psychologist. Of course, family support is also welcomed. However, in order for your family members to support you properly, they need to be educated about your disorder and the way they should behave around you first.

Many family members have good intentions, but actually, do harm to their loved ones that suffer from depression and anxiety. To make sure that this is not your situation, you and your family should go to family therapy where everyone receives all the information they need about your condition.

Dealing with depression and anxiety is not easy. This is why you should have all the support you can get. There is nothing wrong with asking for help, because we all need help from time to time. The worst thing you can do to yourself is suffer in silence. Do not do that. Scream if you have to, but make sure that those that love you understand that you are in pain and that you need their support.